Name
by Ameko
Summary: The main characters in FF8 go to high school in an alternate world. Selphie's POV. COMPLETE! *is proud of her little story going off into the fanfiction world to fend for itself. . *^_~
1. Name

Name

Name

I stepped out of the car and looked around. There were people everywhere! I grabbed my backpack from the seat and slipped it over my shoulders. It was light right now, but I knew that at the end of the day it would be very heavy. I leaned over to the driver.

"Aidan, could you pick me up right here at four?" I asked.

"Certainly, miss." He said. 

"Didn't we cover that already? It's Selphie. Not Miss Tilmitt, not miss. _Selphie_." 

Aidan smiled and touched his hat. I shut the door and he drove off. 

Just because I was rich didn't mean I was spoiled rotten. I wasn't sure how Father would react if he found out that I was having his servants call me by my first name, so he just wouldn't have to find out. That was the logical solution. 

Our family was very rich and had been for generations. It was nice, but most of the time I would have much rather been a normal teenager and not one that had to worry about all this feud business.

I smoothed out my short yellow dress with my hands as I walked up the steps. My palms were sweaty, I noticed. I was really nervous. 

I looked around for someone who seemed nice. I saw a girl with short blonde hair; she was wearing a red minidress with black trim. "'Scuse me." I said, and she looked at me. "I'm awfully sorry to interrupt, but could you tell me where the attendance office is?" 

She rolled her eyes and turned away. I hadn't expected a warm loving welcome, but I hadn't expected outright rudeness, either. I walked away, watching the sidewalk instead of the people in front of me. 

That was how I collided into someone. I looked up immediately. "I'm really sorry!" I apologized quickly before I actually looked at the person.

The girl-it was a girl-laughed. It was a nice laugh, not a mean one. Rather like a giggle, but not quite. "Don't worry about it." She said in a faintly accented voice. She had a soft tone, but a way of speaking that I knew must have gotten people to listen to her right away when she spoke. I could also sense a little bit of uncertainty, deep down in her words. 

I looked at her. She was wearing a rose-colored tank top, and a short black skirt. It wasn't as short as mine, but it was close. She had on black sandals and there was a book bag slung over her shoulder instead of a backpack like the one I wore. Her long blonde hair hung down over her shoulders. The girl had deep blue eyes that seemed to capture you. She wore a pair of silver-rimmed spectacles and a small smile hovered about her lips. She was taller than me, but not a beanpole or anything. 

"I'm Quistis Trepe." She said.

I gave a small sigh of relief. It would be just my luck if the only person who was nice to me were a Kinneas. I was glad she wasn't.

"Selphie Tilmitt." I said, watching her carefully. There was no change in her expression, if anything her smile broke out a little more. We shook hands.

"You're the new girl, then. My homeroom teacher told us yesterday that you'd be transferring here from Trabia Academy and that we should be polite and help you out because this was probably a much bigger school than you were used to.

"That's me! The teacher was right. This place is _enormous._" I grinned and looked over my shoulder at the other girl. "She must not be in your homeroom then."

"Who?" She followed my gaze. "Oh, Lily. She doesn't listen to anyone, especially teachers." She frowned and then smiled again. 

"Why'd you transfer?" Quistis wanted to know. 

"I didn't like private school anymore. The kids there were really snobby. I got sick of it. Plus, I missed my family." 

"Well, that's a good reason as any, I guess." We stood there for a minute, and then, looking about the courtyard, I saw the guy of my dreams. 

He was amazingly handsome. His long auburn hair was tied back into a ponytail, and he wore a long tan coat and a cowboy hat. I could see part of a dark shirt underneath the coat, and black pants and cowboy boots topped off the ensemble. 

"Wow..." I said softly. There were a few people with him, a guy with spiky blond hair and a tattoo on the side of his face, a girl wearing blue, and a guy that had his arm around the girl's shoulder. He was cute, too, I guess, but not as cute as the first guy. Something about him looked familiar, but I couldn't place it.

Quistis noticed who I was looking at. "Does he have a girlfriend?" I asked.

"No. Half the girls in school like him, but he's currently unattached. Wait-you said your last name was Tilmitt, right?"

"Yeah." 

"_The _Tilmitt?"

"Actually, yeah." I wondered if she would decide she didn't want to be friends with me because of that. 

She wasn't like that, though. "Don't get your hopes up then."

"Why?" I said, relieved. "Who is he?"

"That, Selphie, is Irvine Kinneas. The son of Viktor and Lysa Kinneas."

"No _way_." I said dejectedly. The cutest guy I'd ever seen and he was the son of my father's archenemy. Well, rival would probably be a better word, but still…

"He most certainly is."

For the second time that day, I sighed and hung my head. 

"I wouldn't be too broken up over it if I were you. He's a heartbreaker." She slipped her arm around my shoulder. "I'm guessing you need to find the attendance office."

"Yeah!" I said, my good spirits restored. Well, a little, anyways. "That's what I asked that girl, Lily."

"Well, you don't need her help now. You've got me." She grinned. "Friends?"

"Most definitely." I smiled back. "So, tell me more about you?"

She made a face. "See that guy over there?" She pointed to the one I had noticed with Irvine earlier, the one who was with the girl in blue. "His name's Squall Loire. His father is Laguna Loire, the journalist."

My eyes widened. "Woow! Sir Laguna!" 

She laughed. "Hmm?" 

I realized I'd have to explain to her. "Sir Laguna is, like, my hero! I have every single Timber Maniacs magazine. I post them on my website."

She laughed. 

"So, what about this guy, anyway?"

"Well, our parents were best friends. I've had a crush on him for a really long time. But he's with that girl Rinoa." She gestured to the girl in blue.

"Aww...That sucks. I'm really sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault." 

"So, who're your other friends?" I asked, trying to get her mind off of Squall.

This time she smiled. "Well, there's this group that I hang out-Hey!" She waved at someone and beckoned them over as we walked up towards the school.

A guy and a girl came over. The girl had short silver hair and one red eye. The other eye was covered by a black patch. She was wearing white and silver platform shoes, flare-legged jeans and a white tank top with silver trim. Her skin was very pale and I guessed that she was an albino. 

The guy had short blond hair, emerald green eyes not unlike my own, and a confident grin. 

"Fujin, Seifer, this is Selphie. She just transferred here from Trabia Academy. Selphie, this is Fujin and Seifer Almasy. They're twin brother and sister."

"Hi, nice to meet you." I said. 

"Are you a junior or a senior?" Seifer wanted to know. 

"Junior."

"Just like all of us," Quistis said. 

Fujin was studying me carefully. "TILMITT. CORRECT?"

"Fu, you can speak normal and all. She's a friend. If she wasn't, Quistis wouldn't be talkin' to her." Seifer said, smiling at Quistis. She ignored him, or maybe she just hadn't seen. 

I confirmed Fujin's guess. "Yeah, I'm Selphie Tilmitt. How'd you know?"

"All of you have green eyes." Fujin said in a soft voice. "And all the Kinneas have blue eyes."

I started to ask her something else when someone else came up. "Hi! Did I miss anything?" 

The girl who had just spoken had short brown hair that almost touched her shoulders, and brown eyes. She was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt and a cream-colored skirt that almost went to her knees. Like most of the other girls I had seen so far, she wore sandals, and hers were the color of her skirt. Her nice smile showed that she was probably a friend of Quistis. 

"Oh, hi, Ellone. I was wondering if you'd show up anytime soon. This is Selphie Tilmitt. She just transferred from Trabia Academy, and I'm _trying _to get her to the attendance office." Quistis said the last with an exasperated sigh and rolled eyes, but she grinned to let us know she was joking.

"Hi, Selphie." Ellone said. "I'm Ellone Loire." She grinned. "Quisty, you worry too much. There's plenty of time to get her to the attendance office before class starts." She turned to the others and looked them over. "Fujin, Seifer, don't you have homeroom detention for the flood in the teacher's toilets? You'd better go before they make it afterschool detention too." 

"Thanks, Elle. We forgot." Seifer said and the two of them ran off. Fujin kicked Seifer as they ran, an impressive feat. I figured it was probably because of his bad memory. 

"All right, you two should probably get a move on, too. Mind if I come with?" I didn't know who she was asking, so I let Quistis answer.

"Not at all." I was glad. I was beginning to like the efficient girl. She looked a little older than Quistis and I, and that was confirmed when she said, "I'm a senior this year. I've got a younger brother who's a junior."

"That's Squall." Quistis explained.

"You've met? He's not really my brother, though, his mother adopted me when I was little. I'm actually nineteen, but I started school late."

"She hasn't met them. We just saw Irvine make his grand entrance and she was captivated." Quistis teased.

"Like all the other girls." Ellone laughed. "He's a heartbreaker, so you're probably better off not knowing him."

"Your brother?" I asked, knowing full well what guy she was talking about.

"Oh, no. My brother's pretty quiet. He's not one for showing off like Irvine is. Irvine is the heartbreaker. Half the girls in school are in love with him, and he won't go out with a single one. He says he's waiting for the right girl to come along."

I laughed. "He could be telling the truth." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but we doubt it." Quistis laughed. "Come on, the bell's going to ring any minute, and we've got to get you to the office."

I followed the two girls through the crowded schoolyard. I hadn't been here an hour and already I had tons of stuff to think about. This was going to be a long day. 

-End chapter one 

Author's Note: Don't ask me where I got the idea to make Fujin and Seifer twins. I still don't know how I even thought of it. 

The idea for this story came to me from a dream I had...Weird, I know. I've only done the first chapter but I already like it. I know I've messed up quite a bit of the age timeline, and also the timeline that has some people dead who aren't dead in here, but I decided that I wanted more people in this story than just the main six from the game. Also, I thought that while I could have the girls all be friends and the boys all be friends (i.e. Fujin, Selphie, Ellone, Quistis, Rinoa and then Squall, Irvine, Seifer, Zell) I like it better this way.

Raijin is not in this story. Against my better judgment, it's most likely going to work out a Quifer and I really just don't _need _Raijin. Now, I like Raijin as much as the next person (more, probably) but I don't think he's going to be in here. I might change my mind though. Fujin'll probably get with someone who isn't a main character later on. 

The whole feud thing will be explained in the next chapter. Probably.

This is my first fic where I wrote in Selphie's POV (I _think_…) so I might not be that good at keeping Selphie in character. I apologize, just let me know if she's majorly OOC, please. 


	2. Name II

name2

Name

The math teacher droned on and on. At Trabia Academy we had been three chapters ahead in the book, so I already knew this and instead of taking notes furiously like everyone else was, I was writing in my diary. 

__

Irvine is really cute. I wonder why he doesn't have a girlfriend yet. You know, I really hate this stupid feud. I wish I were just a normal teenager like the other kids around here are. My first day has gone pretty well so far, it should be time for lunch soon. I have a feeling that something might happen then. 

The bell rang just as I finished a sentence and I quickly slammed my book shut and stood up. Quistis was sitting directly behind me so I waited for her at the door.

She met me with a grimace. "Did you understand any of that? Usually math is my best subject, but this teacher is really confusing."

I grinned. "I already know this stuff. Trabia Academy is way ahead of you guys. I can help you if you want," I offered.

Quistis's eyes lit up. "Really! That would be wonderful. You see, I want to be a teacher and I need to go to college for that, but I have to get a scholarship. I need perfect marks for a scholarship, and lately I've been worried that I'll mess up."

"Sure! I'll help you." I said. "After all, you helped me."

"Yeah, I guess I did. So, what class do you have next?" 

"Lunch."

"Me too. Ellone, Fujin, and Seifer have the same lunch as we do, too. Let's go, I'll show you the way."

I walked down the hall next to her. "Quistis?"

"Hmm?" 

"What's it like here? I mean, everyone was polite to me today, or else they ignored me, but what's it like here most of the time?"

She thought for a minute. "Well, it's generally pretty normal. Your cousin has his group of followers and Irvine has his group. Squall Loire, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, and Seifer sometimes hangs out with them, too. So do Fujin and I." 

"Do people take the feud seriously?"

"Not really. Sometimes one of Irvine's friends, Zell, usually," she added with a laugh, "Sometimes, they'll say something to get Taren started." Taren was my cousin. He lived with my mother and father because his parents were dead. I was an only child. He was nice to me, but he could be downright mean if he wanted to. I didn't like him very much, but I was nice to him to keep up appearances when I went home for holidays, and now, I'd be living there again. He was a sophomore, so I hadn't seen him at all except for passing him in the hall once or twice. He'd smile and wave, but that was all.

"Like what?"

"Oh, just a little remark. Taren gets mad, and then of course they get into a fight. It's usually broken up before anything major starts, but, they've been warned an awful lot. Next time the two who start the fight will probably get suspended."

"Wow." I said. "But...Now that we're friends, does that mean you won't be able to hang out with Irvine and the others anymore?"

"I don't know, really. It's such a big crowd, I don't think anyone will notice you. With Seifer and Zell arguing, no one really pays attention to any one else. We'll just sit down at the end of the table and if someone says something, we'll move. Seifer and Fujin'll keep the attention away from us. Ellone is going to help to. We like you, and we want you to get along with everyone. It's not your fault your father has problems." 

"Yeah. It's stupid, really. He doesn't like Mr. Kinneas just because the poor guy inherited money that he thought he was going to inherit. They both knew this one guy, and he got really sick. Mr. Kinneas was taking care of him, just to be nice, and then my dad discovered that the older man was very rich. He offered to help so that he would have a chance to inherit the money. When the sick man died, his will said that everything he owned was left to Mr. Kinneas. He and his wife gave the money to start a home for sick animals, and my father has hated him ever since."

"Are you serious?" Quistis asked. 

"One hundred percent. Mr. Kinneas seems like a very nice man. I wish Father could learn from him."

"He is a good man. Mrs. Kinneas is very nice, too. We all go over there sometimes, for parties and stuff, just the nine of us, and she always makes sure we're having fun and we have food and stuff. They're rich, but they don't let it make them snobs." She looked at me appraisingly. "Like you, actually. You're richer than they are and you're still one of the nicest people I've ever met."

I blushed a little. "Thank you."

While we had been talking, we'd gotten to the cafeteria. I felt butterflies in my stomach as we walked over to a round table that was already pretty full. Quistis and I had both brought our lunches so we sat down. I saw Fujin, and two guys I didn't know. One of them had dark hair and blue eyes, the other was blond.

Quistis poked my shoulder. "That's Squall and Zell. Zell's the blond guy and Squall's the other one, obviously." 

They looked up. "Hey, Quisty." Squall said with a smile. 

"Hi! Who's the new girl?" Zell wanted to know. 

"Her name's Selphie." Quistis said. I tensed. I had seen Irvine talking to a girl over by the door. I didn't know how long he'd be there.

"Nice to-wait a minute. Selphie Tilmitt?" Squall asked. At my nod, he smiled. "Elle told me about you. She said you were nice and not to let my low opinion of your father cloud my judgment of you."

"This is Squall." Quistis said. "He talks like a dictionary." 

"Oh, shut up, Quiz." he said without rancor. She stuck out her tongue at him, which was something I would never have expected her to do.

Zell looked at me. "Yo, you know Irvine Kinneas sits here, right?"

"Quistis told me." I said carefully. 

"And you don't care?"

"Just because my father is a pompous windbag doesn't mean I share his opinions." I said. All four of them laughed and I offered a smile. 

Ellone sat down next, followed by Seifer. Then a girl came up to the table. She was the one I had seen talking to Irvine at the doorway. She was wearing a blue flowered sundress and her dark hair was combed to perfection. She sat down next to Squall, giving him a kiss on the cheek. I felt Quistis tense a little next to me and I patted her shoulder comfortingly. 

"Hey, everyone! Irvine says he'll be here in just a minute." She looked over at me then. "Hi!" Leaning over the table, she stuck out her hand for me to shake. I took the offer. "I'm Rinoa. I haven't seen you before."

"I'm Selphie."

"Nice to meetcha." She said, smiling. I instantly decided I liked this girl.

I didn't have time to think anything else, because just then Irvine walked up. He set a soda down at the one empty place. A bag of chips followed it.

"Finally." He said. "This has been one long day."

"Irvine, it's only noon." Ellone pointed out. 

"Yeah, so? It's still been a long day." There was a collective sigh, and he looked over at me.

We were all sitting at the largest table in the cafeteria. It was round, and even though it was big it probably wouldn't have seated anyone else. As it was, we were all pretty crowded. 

"Well, hello." He said with a grin. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of your acquaintance yet." 

"Irvine..." Squall began, and trailed off at a Look from Quistis. Ellone stepped in. I guessed she was the 'diplomat' of the group. 

"Irvy, don't get upset. This is Selphie Tilmitt. She's not like her dad at all, really. She's nice. We're all friends with her already."

Irvine looked at me for a long minute, calculating. I shrunk a little under his gaze. 

"I don't know how you wound up friends with this lot." He said with a grin. Another collective sigh went around the table, but this one was of relief. There was something in his smile, though, that made me think I was on trial.

Talk changed to other things after that. I was pretty quiet until Rinoa asked me what I thought about something or other. 

"Yeah, don't be shy." Ellone chimed in. "We're all friends here. Say whatever you want and no one'll think any less of you for it. We might all jump down your throat, but we won't think any less of you." She finished with a grin. Everyone laughed.

Over the course of the lunch hour, I saw Irvine watching me. Each time I noticed him, he switched his gaze to either Quistis or Fujin, who were on either side of me, and said something to them. He did this so smoothly that I was sure it was coincidence until Quistis poked me. "Don't look" she whispered, "But Irvine's watching you." Of course, I looked and she sighed in disgust. 

"What did I _say_?" She asked me, exasperated as he asked Fujin a question. "He's been watching you all lunch."

"Why?" I asked. 

"I don't know. I'll find out though. Squall is Irvine's best friend and Irvine tells him everything. Squall tells his mom everything; they're really close. Raine, that's his mom, tells Ellone what she wants to know if she asks. She's got a really good memory. Ellone'll find out what he's up to, and then she'll tell me because I'm her best friend." Quistis grinned. 

"Wow," I said, impressed. "Nice system."

"Yeah, we've got others, too. If you want to know what Seifer or Fujin is up to, ask the other twin. Rinoa usually has the scoop on what Squall is doing, but she won't always spill." She frowned in mock-anger. "She's no fun." 

I giggled. The lunch bell rang then. "It was nice meeting you, Selphie." Rinoa said, and everyone agreed, except Irvine. 

When the other's voices had died down, he said, "You're welcome to sit here whenever you want to, Selphie, as long as your cousin doesn't give us trouble. If he starts a fight again, whoever's involved will be suspended, and maybe expelled. Some of us," he looked at Zell, "aren't too great at keeping our tempers under control, and I'd like to avoid any situations if possible. I don't hold my low opinion of your father against you, and I won't unless you give me reason to. Ellone, Fujin, Seifer and Quistis all seem to like you, and I trust their judgment. So, unless you change your mind, you're one of us. We'll look out for you. Some people at this school don't take well to the feud, and they might try to make it miserable here for you. If anything happens, tell one of us and we'll take care of it." Everyone nodded and got up, leaving to their next class. When it was just me, Ellone and Quistis left with Irvine, Quistis turned to me. 

"What's your next class?" She asked. I checked my schedule.

"Literature in room 115."

"Irvine's in that class too. He'll show you where it is." Ellone left. I looked pleadingly at Quistis. 

"What if Taren sees? Irvine just said he didn't want trouble!" I pointed out. 

Irvine grinned. "Now I know you're alright. Don't worry about it. I can handle him. Come on." He said. 

"Irvine's a good guy, Selphie. It'll be okay. I've got to go. I looked at your schedule and you have gym next. We're all in that class except for Ellone, so it'll be fun." She smiled encouragingly and I slowly put on my backpack.

Irvine led me out into the hallway. I was pretty short so in the sea of people I wasn't easily noticed. 

"So, where're you from?" Irvine asked me. 

"I transferred from Trabia Academy. I didn't like it there."

"Not good enough for you?" He asked. I looked at him and saw that he was teasing. 

"Heey!" I said. "That's not very nice." I smiled, though. "Actually, everyone there was so snobby. They really got on my nerves. I only had one friend there, Michia." I felt a little sad as I remembered her. "I miss her." I pulled a Triple Triad card out of my pocket. "She made me this, though. It was a good-bye present." I showed Irvine my best card.

"Wow! It looks just like you." 

"Really? I'll tell Michia. I told her the same thing, but, I'm her best friend so she didn't really believe me."

'You play?" Irvine asked me. 

"Yeah." I said in surprise. "I heard it wasn't popular here, though."

"Oh, it is with us. Squall and Quisty have an ongoing battle. They're each great players, and neither one has ever been able to beat the other. Ellone's good, too. Seifer and Fujin don't play, they just watch usually. Zell plays, but he's not too great at it. Rinoa doesn't like to play, but when she does she's really good at it."

"How good are you?" I asked. 

"Oh, I play pretty good." He grinned. "I just thought of something. Today in Literature we have a free period. The teacher isn't there and we have a substitute. Our normal teacher will be back tomorrow, and she'll get you settled in. But today you won't have anything to do. Wanna play a game?" 

"Sure!" I said. We walked in silence for another minute or so. 

"Here we are." He told me outside the classroom door.

*

True to his prediction, the substitute just told me to sit anywhere I could find a seat. I took an empty desk behind Irvine and as soon as the teacher took roll, everyone turned to their friends and started talking. No one paid any attention to me until Irvine turned around.

"Hi!" He said. 

"Hey." 

"So, do you want to play?"

"Yeah, sure." I pulled my cards out of my bag. I had some good cards, but the card Michia had made for me was the best one I owned. 

Irvine set up the board. "How about Sudden Death, Same, and Trade Rule: One for the rules?" 

"That's fine." I agreed. 

"You can go first." He told me. I pulled out a Trauma card and set it down. 

"Not bad." He said. Then he took out a Snow Lion card and flipped over my Trauma. I sighed. 

He won the battle. Of course, he took my best card, the one with me on it. 

"I don't have to take this card if you don't want me to." He said. 

"No, go ahead. It's all right." I assured him. "I'll win it back from you sometime or another."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Positive." I promised. He put my card into his deck and pocketed the small box. I made a face when his back was turned. Oh well. What Michi didn't know wouldn't hurt her. I really didn't mind him having my card. 

-End chapter two

Author's Note: So maybe a Snow Lion can't flip over Trauma. *shrugs* I don't remember. 


	3. Name III

This chapter of Name is dedicated to Mrs

This chapter of Name is dedicated to Mrs. Hall and Mr. Bachtel, the two greatest teachers I have ever had and the best Drama/Literature teachers out there. Thank you both for teaching me everything that you taught me and also for taking your time to read my extra-long papers and all the other stuff I brought in. ^^ And of course, for having the first semester class read Romeo and Juliet, because if I had never read that then I wouldn't be writing this story right now…

We all know whom Squall & co. belong to, and _Romeo and Juliet _belong to the great William Shakespeare. 

Name

I was late to Drama. It wasn't my fault, really. I had it the last class of the day, and when the bell rang after sixth period, everyone rushed out, including the teacher. I couldn't find anyone who would tell me where the room was. Finally I found it, but not until five minutes after the late bell rang.

The door was locked, and I knocked, embarrassed. Someone came over to open the door. A woman, I guessed she was the teacher. She was tall with short red hair. She looked nice. I stepped in and handed her my schedule. 

She looked at me carefully. "Hi, Selphie. It's nice to have you." I nodded and followed her to the front of the class. "Just take a seat wherever." I looked around and noticed Squall, beckoning to me. I walked over and sat in the empty seat next to him. There were some whispers, but I ignored them. Irvine looked over at me, leaning in front of Squall. "Hey." He said. I smiled.

"Mr. Kinneas, if you're finished, I'll continue." The teacher said. Checking my schedule, I noticed that her name was Mrs. Hall. Irvine settled back in his seat and looked to the front. Glad she hadn't called me out, I did the same. 

"All right, everyone, we'll pick up where we left off yesterday. Everyone get a book, please." I noticed that there were books lying all over the risers. This was a much different class than I had ever been in. There were bookshelves in one corner by the door, and then on that same wall there were hooks to hang backpacks on. There weren't any regular chairs; everyone was crammed on the risers. It wasn't just one class; there were enough kids in here to make two classes. I saw another teacher in the back. He was a large man, with graying hair, a friendly face and a nice smile. He was talking to another kid and laughing. I liked him instantly. Mrs. Hall seemed nice too, even though she was a bit formidable from the start.

Squall handed me a book. I looked at the cover and laughed. _Romeo and Juliet_. That was just funny. 

"We were acting out scenes yesterday, correct?" Mrs. Hall asked. A few people called out answers, but she called on Irvine who had quietly put his hand up next to me. 

"Mr. Kinneas?"

"Yeah, that's what we were doing. We were on the balcony scene."

"Thank you. All right, I'll need a Juliet, a Romeo, and a Nurse." 

Hands went up all around. "Let's see. . .Irvine, would you play Romeo? Selina, you can be Juliet's Nurse, and-" She looked around once more and her gaze settled on me. "Selphie, would you be Juliet?" 

I looked up, surprised. She smiled encouragingly. I started to shake my head and then noticed Irvine grinning at me. "Sure. Why not?" I stood up, taking my book as the other three had. 

"Thank you. We'll start with "Madam!" 

"Madam!" The girl named Selina said. She had long dark hair and blue eyes. She was fair-skinned, short, and round. She had a friendly face and smiled at me as I said my line. I didn't even really have to look at the book; I knew this play almost by heart. I didn't consider myself an actress, but I conned Michia into playacting with me quite a bit, and _Romeo and Juliet_ was one of my favorites. 

"By and by I come-" I said to Selina, as if I was angry she kept calling me. I said it like "I'll be there in a minute" which I suppose if William Shakespeare had lived in the 21st century, that's what the line would have been, and then I turned to Irvine. "To cease they strife and leave me to my grief. Tomorrow will I send."

"So thrive my soul-" Irvine said. I almost believed he was actually Romeo, for a moment. He was a good actor. 

"A thousand times good night!" I said, and took a step back. 

"A thousand times the worse, to want thy light. Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books; But love from love, toward school with heavy looks."

I stepped forward again. "Hist! Romeo, hist! O for a falconer's voice, To lure this tassel-gentle back again! Bondage is hoarse and may not speak aloud, Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine With repetition of 'My Romeo'!" Everyone was staring at me, including the teachers. Most of them had stunned looks on their faces. I was surprised. I didn't think I was that good of an actress, but it seemed that they were enjoying my performance. Booyaka! 

Irvine shook his head, as if to clear it, and began his next line. "It is my soul that calls upon my name. How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night, Like softest music to attending ears!" He trailed out the last part; it had a very dramatic affect on the surrounding students and teachers. 

So that's how you want to do it. Well, two can play this game, I thought. "Romeo!" I said. 

"My nyas?" 

"What o'clock tomorrow Shall I send to thee?" I asked, every bit the flustered maiden. 

"By the hour of nine." Irvine was the confident young man, watching me closely.

"I will not fail." I promised. "'Tis twenty year till then. I have forgot why I did call thee back." I said, my voice a bit puzzled. We were really putting on a show! 

"Let me stand here till thou remember it." 

"I shall forget, to have thee still stand there, Remembering how I love thy company."

"And I'll stay, to have thee still forget, Forgetting any other home but this." Irvine said. Star-crossed lovers are a bit impractical, I decided. 

"'Tis almost morning. I would have thee gone." I said sadly. "And yet no farther than a wanton's bird, That lets it hop a little from his hand, Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyres, And with a silken thread plucks it back again, So loving-jealous of his liberty."

"I would I were thy bird." Irvine said. 

"Sweet, so would I. Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing." The scene probably didn't call for it, but I had a hint of a laugh in my voice. "Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow That I shall say goodnight till it be morrow." I let my voice drift off and stepped back once more. 

Before Irvine could start his next line, the class burst into applause. I looked at the clock. The bell was going to ring in a few minutes. The teacher waited for everyone to calm down. 

"That was simply wonderful." Mrs. Hall said. "Today's your first day, so you wouldn't know that the Juliet for our school play is in the hospital. She won't be able to play her anymore. You seem to know the part well. I'm in charge of the play and I think you'd be excellent." 

I was stunned. _Me? _Play _Juliet?_ Wow. All I could do was nod. The bell rang, and everyone scrambled to be first out the door. "Don't forget your book tomorrow!" Mrs. Hall called after them. In a few minutes, Squall, Irvine and I were alone in the room with the teachers. 

"Have you acted before?" Mr. Bachtel asked. I shook my head.

"Not really. In Trabia, my best friend and I used to act out scenes from Romeo and Juliet together, and a few other plays, but that's it. I'm surprised I'm any good."

"Any good? You were wonderful. If you had been at tryouts I would have chosen you from the start." Mrs. Hall said. She had me wait for a minute while she got the papers I would need with the rehearsal information and such.

I looked at the clock again. It was five minutes to four. I needed to leave. I took the papers, excused myself and left the room. The Drama room was close to where Aidan had dropped me off this morning, and I headed towards the spot he would be meeting me at. The cell phone at my side rang and I grabbed it. "Hello?" 

"Hi! It's Quistis." I remembered giving her my number earlier in the day. 

"Hi," I said, smiling. 

"I'm with Squall right now, heading towards the parking lot. I see you." I looked around and, seeing the blonde girl and her friend, waved. She waved back. "So, he's just told me about what happened in Drama. That's great! Sarah was good as Juliet, but Squall says you were electric!" 

"I guess." I admitted.

"And you were great with Irvine! You know he's Romeo, right?" I heard Squall in the background. 

"Quiz! He wanted to tell her." I ignored that revelation and focused on the earlier one. 

"_What? _Irvine is _Romeo?!_" 

"Uh-oh. Squall's attacking me. See ya." She hung up and I watched her dodge his playful attacks all the way through the Quad until they reached me. All three of us were laughing by then. 

"Irvine's playing Romeo." Quistis confirmed. "It's sort of weird that you two are playing them, when you've got your own family feud going."

Rinoa walked up then. "Hi! What's going on?" 

"Selphie's going to play Juliet." Quistis informed her. 

"That's great! Hey, do you want to go with me and Quistis to the mall tomorrow?" Rinoa asked. 

I looked at Quistis and she nodded. "I guess so. I'm not doing anything." 

"You should stay the night, too." She decided. "Rinoa and Squall are going out, she can't, but you could come over." 

I thought about that. "I'd love to. I should go home and get clothes, though. . .Wanna come with?" I asked Quistis.

"Sure. I take the bus; I can miss it today. Are you sure whoever's driving you won't mind?"

"I don't think so." Aidan drove up then and I took the opportunity to ask. "Hey, Aidan, could you take me and my friend to my house and then back to hers? I was going to spend the night."

He looked at me, amazed. I guess no one ever bothered to ask him if he minded doing something before. "Certainly, Miss. Selphie." He corrected himself. I grinned. 

"Thanks. You're great." Quistis pulled out her phone again and dialed a number. "Mom? Yeah, it's me. Listen, is it all right if I go to someone's house before I come home? No, not Ellone. Selphie. She's a new girl. No, she's not a psycho, Mother." Quistis sighed, exasperated. I giggled, along with Rinoa. "Hold on, let me ask." She turned to me. "Do you do drugs?" Squall cracked up. Rinoa made a face and I got out 'No' between fits of laughter. Aidan had to fight back a smile, too. 

"Mother, there's nothing wrong with her. I'll be home soon. No. Goodbye, Mother." Quistis hung up the phone. It rang almost immediately and she snapped the ringer off. She rolled her eyes again. 

"Bye, see you later." We finished goodbyes and Quistis got into the car with me. She shut the door and Aidan drove off. I wondered where the others were.

"So, how was your day?" Quistis asked me. 

"Pretty good. I'm glad it was a Friday though. That means I don't have to go back for two days. It was kinda overwhelming."

"I know what you mean." She laughed.

"Your mom is. . ." I trailed off, not sure how to phrase it. Quistis grinned. 

"She's crazy. My dad left when I was four and I'm an only child. I've always pretty much taken care of myself, so she stays in her room most of the time. She'll never win World's Best Mom, but she's convinced as long as I don't turn into a druggie she's done a good job." We both laughed. "Sometimes I wish she was more like the moms all my friends have."

"Tell me about them?" I asked. "If you don't mind, anyway."

"No, it's fine. Let's see. . .Well, Rinoa's mom is Julia Heartilly, the famous singer." I had guessed that. "Her family is really rich, but neither her or Rinoa are stuck-up. Her father's a bit of a snob, but he isn't so bad. Rinoa's great. She's a lot like her mother." Quistis said. "Irvine's mom is pretty much the storybook mom. She makes cookies, like, twice a day and there's always something to eat. She'll be sewing something whenever you see her, or cleaning or cooking or playing her violin. Not only is she a good mom, she's gorgeous. Irvine takes after her a good deal. There isn't much of his father in him." 

"What about Fujin and Seifer's mom?"

"They don't have any parents. No one knows where their mother is, or their father, for that matter. They used to live in foster homes but they were such troublemakers no one wants them to stay with them. They think that's the funniest thing and do just fine on their own. They're usually over at someone else's house though, most likely Irvine's. Lysa is always mothering them like they were her children. Seifer just eats it up." We cracked up.

"Squall's mom is the best, though." Quistis said. 

"Really? What's she like?" I was curious.

"Well, her name is Raine. She's got long brown hair, down to her waist, and blue eyes just like Squall's. He looks like her a lot, but you can see Laguna in him, too." She said. "She's really pretty and sweet. She has three different flower gardens in her yard, and she's always wearing jeans and a shirt. She walks around barefoot all the time. She's very down-to-earth, and she watches out for me just like I was Squall or Ellone, because she knows my mom isn't that good of a mother to me. My mom is nice, and all, but she just should not have been a mother."

I knew what she meant.

We were quiet the rest of the way to my house. When Aidan drove up, I opened the door quickly, and, thanking him, got out. Quistis followed suit. 

I headed up the steps to my house, Quistis following. "Wow." She said. "Your house is cool!" 

I grinned. "Thanks, I guess. I only used to live here on holidays and in the summer."

"I saw you one time!" 

"Huh?" 

"Two years ago. It was raining. I was walking by and you were spinning around out there like it was sunlight.

I blushed. "Oh, yeah."

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing. . ." I said. 

"Oh, come on." 

"Well, I heard that Odin, the legendary Guardian, comes out when it's raining. I wanted to see him. All that spinning was me trying to see all of the sky at once so if he appeared I'd know it."

"Oh. Well, what's wrong with that?" She asked, puzzled that I'd be embarrassed about wanting to see one of the Guardians. 

"Nothing, I guess." I opened the door and we went upstairs. "Selphie?" My mother called. "Is that you?" 

"No!" I yelled back and pulled Quistis into my room, shutting the door behind us. I flopped down on my enormous bed and grinned up at her. 

"Sorry about that. I'm not in the mood to argue with Mother right now." I got up and dug around in drawers while she looked around my room. 

"Wow. . .John Rzeznik. I didn't know you liked the Goo Goo Dolls!"

I turned around in surprise. "Yeah. They're my favorite band."

"Know who else likes them?" Quistis asked teasingly.

"Who? You?" 

"No. Irvine does." 

"So?"

"Come on, Selphie! You must have noticed that he likes you."

"You're crazy." I told her, backing up.

"I think he does. So does Squall. Squall is his best friend. Like I said, I'm going to ask Ellone. She'll get it out of Raine." Quistis promised.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm ready. Let's go." I brushed her comment aside and we left the room. Did he really like me? I wouldn't think about it right now. It would just distract me. 

"Mom, I'm leaving. I'll be back tomorrow." I yelled. 

"Have fun!" That was all she said. Not "where are you going" or "what time are you coming back" or even "what's the phone number there?"

Quistis looked at me in disbelief. "Have fun?" She asked incredulously. 

I shrugged. 

Aidan was still waiting outside, so we got in the car and Quistis told him where to go. She lived in an apartment complex a little ways away. It wasn't very far. The apartments were nice, but I could tell she was embarrassed when we pulled up.

"Cool." I said. "I wish I lived somewhere like here. My house is too big." She smiled a little. 

"Thanks." She said. 

"For what? It's the truth." I smiled and we got out of the car. "'Bye, Aidan." I said. I shut the door behind us and he drove away. 

*

We stayed up late that night talking. I had only met Quistis that morning, but it seemed like it had been a lifetime already. We had been fast friends and our friendship was going to be a close one. We finally fell asleep around two a.m. It was the latest I had stayed up in a while, and when the sun pulled my resisting eyes open later that morning, I was _not _ready. I had to get up, though.

Quistis was nowhere to be found. My sleepy eyes swept the room looking for a clock, and when I finally found it. It was about nine 'o clock. 

I sat up and rubbed at my eyes sleepily. My hair was a total mess, and I half-heartedly pushed it behind my ears, trying to smooth it out some. I knew better than to make a big deal over it, I wouldn't straighten it out until I'd had a shower. I swung my legs over the side of Quistis's extra bed and looked around. 

Her room was pretty plain. The walls were painted a very light blue, so light that the color was almost white. The one window had gauzy curtains of a slightly darker shade of blue, trimmed at the bottom with silver. She had a few posters, one of a unicorn and another of a lion. That was about it. Her desk was neat and bare of everything but a small stereo system, some CDs and a pencil jar. The closet was neat, her bed was made, and her dresser was very tidy along the top. 

A model girl, I smiled. Quistis was pretty predictable. From the way she talked and acted at school, I had guessed what she was mostly like. A lot different from me, but then, don't opposites attract? 

While I thought, the door opened and she stepped in. "Good morning." 

"Hi! Were you up a lot longer than I was?"

"Not really. I just can't sleep late at all. Even if I'm up late. It's okay." 

"What time are we supposed to be at the mall?" I wanted to know.

"At eleven. That should give us enough time to get ready. We've got two hours."

"Yeah. That'll be plenty of time. I'm not slow." I said. 

"My mom's already left for the day. I just finished my shower," she said, tugging on a lock of wet golden hair to emphasize her point "so you can go ahead." She got me towels while I dug around for my clothes, and then pointed me in the direction of the bathroom. I knew where it was from last night, but my sleep-fogged brain was not responding to many of my commands. It was all I could do to walk down the hall steadily. 

The warm water helped a little, and I felt much better once I was clean. I was washing my hair when Quistis knocked on the door. 

"Hey, should I invite anyone else to come with us to the mall?"

"I don't care. Call whoever." I called back. 

I could hear the smile in her voice when she asked, "Should I call Irvine?"

"I don't know," I answered without missing a beat. "Should we call Seifer?" 

"Whatever." She said, and slammed the door. I laughed. I didn't care whether she called Irvine or not. If she did we might be able to find out what was going on, but, if she didn't, it was no great loss. She had said she'd get it out of Ellone anyway. 

I finished my shower and dried off quickly, pulling on my clothes. Today I was wearing a yellow tank top under baggy denim overalls. Yellow was my favorite color, and my hair was just red enough that it looked okay on me. I slid my feet into my shoes and de-frosted the mirror so I could fix my hair and makeup. 

I didn't put on much makeup; I wasn't in the mood for anything other than a little eyeliner and some lip-gloss after I'd brushed my teeth. I combed my hair and let it hang straight to my shoulders to dry. Ready to face the day, I cleaned up my mess and left the bathroom

I bumped into Quistis in the hall. She made a face at me and we both wound up laughing. "Just for the record, I do _not _like Seifer." She informed me. 

"Sure. Whatever you say." I grinned, and she aimed a hit at my shoulder, which I dodged. 

"You can throw that stuff in the laundry room, and I'll get it before you leave." I shrugged and did what she suggested. Her hair was drying sort of wavy. I pointed this out and she glared at it.

"Yeah, unless I spend an hour combing it and all _before _it dries, it'll be sort of wavy. It's annoying."

"Do you have a curling iron?" I asked. "I forgot mine."

"Actually, I don't. . .You should just leave your hair down straight today. It looks cute with your bangs and all."

"Are you sure? Shouldn't I do something with it?"

"No. Just leave it." She said.

I agreed dubiously and trailed her to the kitchen, my hairbrush in my hands. She found breakfast stuff, and we sat down and ate, punctuating the meal with laughter and talk, and once, Quistis snorting milk up her nose.

You know those commercials, the ones that say, "Some things are priceless. For everything else, there's MasterCard?" Well, that was one of those priceless moments. We were still laughing while we did the few dishes there were and went back to her room.

"We should leave around ten-thirty, because we have to walk. It's not too far, but we'll need some time to get there." She pointed out, and I agreed. 

It was already about ten, so we spent the last half-hour getting ready. Quistis was wearing a skirt again. This one was the same length as the one she'd worn yesterday, about halfway to her knees. It was blue, matching her eyes. She wore a white shirt with it, V-necked and with elbow sleeves. Her sandals today were white. She looked a lot nicer than I did, with my denim, and I told her so.

"You look fine. Why are you worrying, anyway?"

"I'm not worrying. And why're you all dressed up?" She flushed. 

"I am not!" 

"Yes, you are. I think you're hoping you'll see a certain someone there. . .Tell me, who'd you call?"

"Ellone, Irvine and Fujin. Irvine said he'd meet us at the food court around noon, and Ellone is going to pick up Rinoa and Fujin. Zell absolutely did not want to come when we brought it up at lunch, and he's somewhere with his mom today. She always makes him go shopping with her, poor boy. The Loires and the Almasys live pretty close by each other, and Rinoa lives just around the corner, but they live pretty far from us. Ellone might bring Squall, too, if Rinoa can convince him to stay. He'll definitely come along for the ride if Rinoa is going to be there, but it's not too likely he'll stay. He hates the mall."

I laughed. "He seems like the kinda guy who would." I noticed Quistis avoided mentioning the possibility that Seifer might show up. I wondered if she did like him. I knew she had a crush on Squall, but maybe that was just a thing of the past now. She reacted if I teased her about Seifer, and there was definitely something in her eyes when I mentioned him, a little spark that had never ignited for Squall, I was sure of it.

She finished with her hair and sat up from her kneeling position in front of the mirror. I peered over her shoulder at myself, and deciding that I looked alright, I packed up my things so I'd be ready when we came back.

"Okay, checklist time. Lip-gloss?"

"Check!" I sang out. 

"Phone?"

"Check." 

"Money?"

"Of course!" 

"All right, let's go!" She stood up fast, knocking me over. 

  
"Hey!" I protested from my position on the floor. She helped me up, laughing. 

*

It wasn't too far to the mall, like Quistis had said. We found Rinoa, Ellone and Fujin standing in front of the fountain. Ellone greeted us with, "Seifer and Squall wandered off. They said they were going to the bookstore, but I bet they went next door."

The four other girls made faces, Rinoa and Quistis especially. "What's next door," I asked.

"A store that we'd prefer our guys to stay out of." Ellone said and left it at that. I grinned. 

"It's also Irvine's favorite shop." Rinoa put in, grinning. Quistis poked her in the arm.

"Shut up." Rinoa stuck out her tongue and Ellone, Fujin and I laughed at the sheer silliness of the two. They were friends, I knew, but there was some deeper feeling Quistis was harboring for Rinoa. A slight bit of jealousy, maybe. Nothing too big, or even evident, really. I could just see it because I was good at reading people. 

"Well, let's go round them up. When we finally drag them away, it'll be time to meet Irvine and we'll never hear the end of it if we're late. When we do find him, it'll be pretty predictable from there. We'll drag them around to stores and they'll whine but Squall, at least, will cooperate because he knows he'll get to make-out with Rinoa later." There was a group grin and Rinoa blushed. 

"Squall's whipped." Quistis informed me and I laughed. Rinoa was very red now and Ellone made a face at us.

"You started it, Elle." 

"Whatever." Ellone shot back and we started walking. I hadn't been to this mall in some time, over a year at least, so I wasn't sure where anything was. I mostly just followed Quistis, not really looking around for fear I'd lose her in the crowd. We reached the store, and sure enough Squall and Seifer were _not _in the bookstore. We stood over to where they could only see us if they turned around, and looked away, pretending to study a display in the opposite window, so we couldn't see them.

"Okay. Pretend we didn't see them. As soon as they notice us, they'll leave the store and be standing in plain sight in the bookstore. They do this every week."

"Why don't you call them on it?"

"It's so much more fun this way." Fujin said. I shrugged. When Ellone signaled, we all turned around, heading towards the bookstore. Sure enough, they were studying the _Harry Potter _display nervously. 

"They never guess?" 

"No. Shhh!" Quistis said as we neared the guys. 

"Hi!" Rinoa said brightly. Squall grinned and hugged her. 

Seifer smiled at Quistis, and she smiled back, not knowing that _I _was watching. We'd have to talk later. 

After the general greeting, the guys explained they needed to go get some CDs and we agreed.

"Make it quick, though. Irvine'll be here soon." Quistis pointed out. They nodded. 

"You comin' with?" Seifer asked. 

"I'll go." I said. Quistis quickly agreed to go as well, to Seifer's delight. Ellone and Rinoa opted to just go straight to the food court, and Fujin went with them. 

The four of us headed in the opposite direction. The music store was one of my favorite places so I knew where it was. As I walked, I sunk my hands into my pockets, thinking. 

Did Irvine like me? I liked him. I hadn't used to believe in the whole "love-at-first-sight thing, but, I think I had changed my mind. I think that I had fallen in love with Irvine. 

I know it sounds crazy, but. . .I just believe it. Girls usually know when a guy is _the _guy. Right now, I think Irvine is that guy. 

I'd had boyfriends before, at Trabia Academy, before I decided that they were all too stuck-up, but I had never felt for any of them what I felt for Irvine. 

It would be just my luck if he didn't like me. Quistis tapped my shoulder.

"Deep in thought?'

"Um, yeah." 

"I thought so. We just passed the record store." I looked up, and sure enough, she was right. 

"Oh. . ."I sighed and turned back around.

*

I was nervous as we approached the food court. When we got there I decided that I shouldn't have been. Irvine and Ellone were deep in conversation. Ellone looked up and winked at the two of us. I wondered what it meant. She hadn't let Irvine see, so I had a good idea but I wasn't sure. 

Ellone stood up. "Have a seat." She said to us. It was a table for three, and Quistis sat down with me. Irvine grinned at both of us. 

"Hey." He said. 

"Hi." I nodded back. Quistis said hello as well. 

"I'm going to get a drink. You guys want anything?"

Irvine shook his head, pointing to a soda in front of him. 

"Get me anything except root beer." I said. Quistis nodded and walked off. 

I was alone with Irvine. I realized that the instant Quistis was out of hearing range, of course. I'd get her later. Right now, I'd make the best of this situation that I could. 

Of course, I probably should have spoken to him. . .that would have been a better idea than just sitting there, staring at him. Well, I wasn't exactly staring at him. Just looking off into the distance. 

"We've got rehearsal on Monday." Irvine said after a few minutes. I shook my head a little and looked up. Figuring out what he said, I nodded.

"Yeah, I read the papers last night." I decided to act surprised. "Wait. We? You're in the play, too?"

"Don't bother. Quistis told me she told you." He grinned. I was glad he wasn't upset. "Don't you think that's sort of strange, though? Our families are having a feud, and we're playing the two main characters in the most famous feud of all time."

"I was thinking about that earlier. It is pretty weird." I shrugged. Quistis came back then, and that was the only chance Irvine and I had to speak alone for the rest of the day.

-End chapter three

Author's Note: Sorry this was so long. I got carried away and I wanted to finish the mall scene in chapter three. I already broke her first day up into two chapters. . .I bet that was sort of annoying. I'm sorry. ^^

Well, play rehearsal starts in chapter four! That should be up soon enough. . .As soon as I can dig up my copy of _Romeo and Juliet_, anyway. *shrugs* Who knows when that will be. . .? Pretty soon, though. I know everyone who reads this will send me lovely packages of flames if I don't get moving. :P 


	4. Name IV

Name

Name

Monday I waited anxiously for the bell to ring. The hour dragged and when it finally signaled that it was time to leave, I practically jumped out of my seat. Irvine had been sent on an errand, so I wasn't bothering to hide my enthusiasm. Squall picked up on it, of course. 

"Irvine's excited, too." He grinned at me. I blushed and pretended I didn't know what he was talking about. "Give it up, Selphie. You like him, he likes you, you're both in denial so it's up to the rest of us to get you together." 

That hadn't been a really bright move on Squall's part, Quistis informed me later. I was actually glad, now that it had been confirmed that Irvine liked me. 

Squall and I couldn't discuss it anymore, because Irvine walked in the room then. Play rehearsal for the main characters was being held in the Drama room right now, because until next week the auditorium was closed for repairs and the other rooms we might have been able to use were all occupied as well. It was only the main characters rehearsing because not everyone would fit and we needed it the most. I was surprised to see Ellone, Rinoa, and Seifer walk in together. No one had told me anything other than Irvine was in the play. When I commented on this, Squall laughed. 

"We decided the play was something we'd all do together. Turns out some of us are more dramatically inclined then we'd thought. Quistis, Fujin and Zell are some of the citizens, with one or no lines, and Seifer got the part of Mercutio, to no one's surprise. Ellone you'll be seeing a lot, she's playing your Nurse, and Rinoa is Lady Montague."

"Are you Lord Montague?" I asked teasingly. 

"No." He rolled his eyes. "This jerk that has a crush on Rinoa is. His name is Calvin or something like that. He's not bad-looking, either." A line of worry crossed his face.

"I wouldn't worry about it," I said cheerfully. "Rinoa loves you. She could care less what some other guy looks like." My efforts were not in vain, I was paid with a small smile from Squall and I couldn't have been happier. 

"So, who are you, then?"

"Benvolio. Fitting, because I'm one of Irvine's friends." 

I nodded. Rinoa sat very close to Squall when the teacher called for order, and Ellone sat on the riser above me with the two of them. Seifer sat on the other side of Squall. When Irvine walked in, it was either sit by Ellone, Seifer or me. I was sure he'd go next to Seifer, but instead he seated himself next to me, just as close as Rinoa was to Squall. I looked behind me. Rinoa and Ellone were grinning like idiots. Squall mouthed, "I told you so." I stuck out my tongue and turned back around. 

Mrs. Hall was talking about ways to memorize the script. I already knew most of it, and would have no trouble learning what I didn't already know. I decided to mess around with Irvine's mind a little, instead. 

I moved around a little in my seat. I knew he was aware of it, but I didn't look at him. I also knew that he was looking at me. Keeping my eyes at the front of the room, I waited until he went to get something from his backpack, and then I reached down to my shoe to tie it. Accidentally-on-purpose I bumped my hand on his. I felt his fingers start to curl around mine, and then he pulled his hand back. I saw him turn his head out of the corner of my eye. When I looked up he was blushing. 

Figures. Everyone says he's always flirting with the ladies but when it all comes down to it, he's a wuss. Well, not a wuss, maybe. Just sorta chicken. I heard smothered laughs from behind me and I knew that one of them, at least, had seen. I didn't care, really. It was all sort of funny. 

I kept my hands to myself and paid attention after that. 

*

When Mrs. Hall finished talking, she told us to find the scene we were having the most trouble with and work on it. Ellone came over to me. 

"I've been having problems with Act 3, Scene 2. I doubt you have trouble with any of the scenes, if you were as great as Irvine and Squall said, but do you mind helping me?"

"Of course not. I'm not that great, though. I had to practice over and over with Michia, and I still need work. But enough about that, what are you having trouble with?"

"Just remembering my lines, mostly. I haven't had Juliet to work with, so I should have an easier time of it now that you're here."

"Well, let's give it a shot!" I said.

I took a breath and looked around the room. Irvine was standing in a corner with Seifer and Squall. Seifer was talking, and from his expressions I figured it was probably Mercutio's Queen Mab speech. 

My first line was "Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds, Toward Phoebus' lodging!", and I continued from there for a bit. Ellone was standing a ways off, and when I finished she entered as the scene directed. 

"Ay, ay, the cords." She said, throwing them down. 

"Ay me! what news? Why dost thou wring thy hands?" I asked frantically. 

Ellone replied, every bit the flustered Nurse, "Ah, weraday! He's dead, he's dead, he's dead! We are undone, lady, we are undone! Alack the day! he's gone, he's killed, he's dead!" She became more hysterical with every sentence. I didn't see a thing wrong with her performance. 

"Can heaven be so envious?" I asked. 

"Romeo can, though heaven cannot. O Romeo, Romeo! Who ever would have thought it? Romeo!" Ellone replied.

I knew that right now, Juliet thought that Nurse was speaking of the death of Romeo, and not Tybalt like she actually was. We continued on steadily from that point. Ellone only forgot two lines, and when I prompted her she remembered right away. Irvine had finished with Squall and Seifer, but the latter two were still rehearsing Act 2, Scene 4.

"Will you speak well of him that killed your cousin?" Ellone asked.

I didn't notice Irvine behind me as I retorted, "Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?" The rest of my little speech went smoothly and when it was over I noticed Irvine behind me. He was smiling.

"Wow. That was great. You're going to be an amazing Juliet, Sefie." He said. I smiled, deciding not to comment on what he had called me. I don't even know if he realized he had said it. Squall called his name, and he left.

Ellone went from Nurse to excited teenage girl in about a nanosecond. She squealed a little. "Did you hear? He gave you a nickname. That's so sweet!" We both giggled. It _was cute. We talked for the rest of the hour, deciding to work some more on the scenes later. Irvine didn't come back over, but from time to time he'd glance over. As soon as I looked at him, he'd turn away. It was no use trying to figure him out, I decided, and concentrated on what Ellone was saying. _

"A dance? What?"

She laughed. "If you weren't staring at Irvine you would have known what I was talking about. There's a dance Friday. Tickets went on sale today. Do you want to go?"

I opened my mouth. "Yes, Irvine's going, and yes, the rest of us are." She said before I could say anything.

This time I laughed. "Is it something that people ask people to?"

"Yeah. Rinoa and Squall are going together. Seifer's trying to get up his nerve to ask Quistis."

"I _knew it!" I said, referring to the fact that he liked her. Ellone nodded._

"He's crazy for her. She has a crush on my brother, though. It's sad. . .If she thought about it, she'd realize that she likes Seifer and Squall just as a friend."

"I think if he asks her, she'll say yes." I said. I _was pretty sure. Ellone's eyes widened. _

"Really?" I nodded.

"I'm making him ask her, then. I'll tell him if he doesn't I'll show her the naked baby pictures of him that Fujin has." That caused another round of laughter. After we calmed down, Ellone brought up something else. "I bet Irvine will ask you." 

"You think?" 

"Most definitely. After rehearsal, we'll all leave right away so you can have some time alone. I'll tell Squall to tell Irvine to do it." 

I was a little surprised. "Really?"

"Of course. You're my friend. I want to help you." She grinned.

"Thank you." I said. "It's really nice of you."

"Oh, it's nothing. Let me go talk to Squall." Rinoa had long since headed over there, and she and Squall were talking. Irvine was goofing off with Seifer. He wasn't looking at me, Rinoa, or Squall, or even Ellone, which was good. I saw them glance over at me a few times, and nod. Then Rinoa laughed, and Squall grinned. Ellone nodded and headed back over here.

"It's all set." She said, as Squall called Seifer and Irvine over. We pretended to be engrossed in our conversation and ignored the glances the other group shot our way. "He's talking to him now. Irvine'll ask you."

I smiled, a little nervous. Of course, that's when the bell rang. "Slowly." Ellone said as I gathered up my books. I made a face at her. 

"Slow isn't my department." I told her. She laughed. 

"Well, don't look now. Here he comes." She stood up and walked away. Sure enough, Irvine walked over to me as soon as the others left the room.

I tensed, and my heartbeat became so loud I was sure he'd be able to hear it.

-End chapter four

Author's Note: I'm sorry! Really I am. I promise I'll hurry up and write chapter five so you won't be left hanging. I hate cliffhanger endings, but this was getting long and the next part is going to be pretty long so I didn't want it to run all over into each other. 


	5. Name V

Name

Name

(The last chapter of Name ended with Ellone and the others telling Irvine to ask Selphie to the school dance. I cut it off with a cliffhanger ending when he was walking towards her. In case you don't remember, I apologized, too. *grin*)

I bent down to gather up my books, pretending I didn't care that Irvine was walking towards me. 

"Selphie?"

I stood up. "Yeah?" I would have laughed at his face if I hadn't been so nervous myself. He was a mess. His face was pale and he had his hands in his pockets and the most nervous expression on his face. I smiled to let him know I was listening.

"Well. . .There's a dance Friday." He paused.

"I know. Ellone told me." I waited expectantly. 

"I was wondering. . .do you want to go with me?" He finished all in a rush.

I grinned. "Do you mean as a date?"

"Um. Yeah. That's what I meant." He looked flustered now, and I knew he was thinking that I meant I didn't want to go on a date with him, which was of course not true. I hurried to correct my mistake.

"Good. I'd love to go to the dance with you." I smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I wouldn't lie to you."

He grinned, that charmingly heartbreaking smile. "I'm glad." We stood there for a minute or so, just grinning like idiots, until he broke the silence. "Could I walk you out to your car?"

"Sure. Do you want to go see a movie, or something? Just us?" 

"Right now?" 

I shrugged. "Sure."

"On one condition." 

"And that is?"

"You have to meet my parents."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

"Have you forgotten?"

"Forgotten what?"

I sighed, exasperated. "Irvine. Kinneas. Selphie. Tilmitt. Hello?"

"Oh. That. My parents don't care!"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"I don't want to put you on the spot."

"Trust me, Sefie, you won't."

"Sefie?"

"Yeah. . .it sounds cute."

I smiled. "I like it."

"Good." He smiled. 

"One question. You say, "This is Selphie. My-"

"What?"

"What am I? Am I your friend, or what?"

"I don't know. What do you want to be?"

"What do you want me to be?"

"My girlfriend."

"Really?" I smiled.

"Yeah."

"So, you'll say, "Mom, this is Selphie, my girlfriend."

"That's right."

"Good."

"Really?"

"I said so, didn't I?"

He smiled. "Let's go then.

*

"It's so nice to meet you, Selphie. Irvine hasn't had a girlfriend in so long."

"Mom. . ."

"Oh, I'm embarrassing him. I always seem to do that." She laughed. His mom was a very nice woman, and hadn't seemed the least bit concerned when she heard my last name. "Well, I know you have plans, so, go on to your date."

"Mom!"

"Well, what am I supposed to say? Behave, both of you." She smiled and left the room.

"That was my mom." Irvine said.

"She's cool."

"Everyone thinks so."

"So, are we going?"

"Yeah." We'd rode here in his car, so we headed back outside in the direction of the driveway.

"What do you want to see?"

"Um. . .I don't care, really. Please, just nothing too graphic."

"Sure. How about. . .A Knight's Tale?" 

"Yeah! I've wanted to see that for a while."

"Ok."

*

The movie was great. We had a really good time. There was no kissing, or other such activities, but somewhere near the middle, I felt his fingers slip around mine. I'd smiled a little and held on tight. 

He drove me home afterwards, stopping a few houses down so no one would see him. Before getting out of the car, I'd leaned over and kissed him on the lips. I pulled away before things could get any more intense. There would be time for that later, and in front of the neighbors was not the best place. I'd smiled at him as I got out of the car, and then I had ran to my room before anyone, Taren, namely, could find me and ask where I'd been.

Now I was sitting on my bed listening to the Goo Goo Dolls. The music was on low, but I could tell when each song came on because I'd had this cd since the day it hit the shelves and listened to it all the way through at least six times a week. There was no way to keep track of the times I'd just put it on to hear a few songs in particular. It was their newest cd, Dizzy up the Girl. I had almost all of them, but this was my favorite. A Boy Named Goo was a close second. 

I was so excited about the dance on Friday. I knew I'd have a good time with Irvine. Quistis had said that sometimes he was a total flirt and ladies' man, but really he was a good guy at heart. I knew he liked me, and I wasn't worried. Besides, if I did catch him checking out another girl, well, I was sure Quistis would help me make him very sorry. I smiled, laying back on my bed and staring at the ceiling. 

I didn't really know why I was smiling, just that I was so happy. Irvine Kinneas, quite possibly the hottest guy on Earth, was my boyfriend, and there was nothing any one could do to change that. I had great friends, even though I had only been at my new school for two days. 

As long as Taren stayed out of my business, this could be a really great year for me. What was left of it anyway.

I sighed happily and fell into a daydream about Irvine. 

*

The next few days passed very quickly, and before I knew it, Friday was upon me. I had a really cute dress to wear tonight, I had found it at the mall with Ellone on Wednesday. Rinoa and Quistis hadn't been able to go shopping, but I'd still had fun with Ellone. She'd gotten a really pretty light green dress, and mine was-a surprise! I couldn't wait for Irvine to see it. 

Friday afternoon Quistis came over to my house after school. The dance didn't start until five, and it was a long stretch of time from the three-fifteen dismissal from last hour.

She'd brought her dress in her backpack, so the first order of business was of course to iron it. It was a gorgeous dress and I could tell she'd look great in it.

The make of it was similar to mine, it had straps holding it up, but instead of just going over the shoulder as they would normally do, they crossed over in the front and then again in the back, making her shoulders bare completely. It stopped just before her knees, and was a light pink color that looked wonderful with her blonde hair and blue eyes. The material was silky soft and clingy. 

"Seifer's going to be all over you." I stated. She blushed a little, having given up her charade.

"I don't know if that's good or bad." She said, laughing.

"Trust me, don't worry." 

She looked at herself in the mirror again. "I don't know. . .maybe I should change?"

"No _way._ You are wearing that dress no matter what." I said, giving her a look. 

"Fine." She said in a resigned tone. I quickly exchanged my school clothes for the dress and grinned when I saw my reflection.

The dress was a soft yellow, my favorite color. It had tiny flowers all over it, and the straps tied on my shoulder, giving it a sundress effect. It was just a little shorter than Quistis's dress, making my legs look longer. I'd left my hair straight instead of curling it up, and it looked nice, hanging just past my shoulders. 

Sandals of a matching color added about two inches to my height, making me not so short anymore, and perhaps tall enough to come up to Irvine's shoulder, at least. Quistis wore sandals, too, although she didn't need added height. Lucky her. 

We didn't spend too much time on makeup, because we didn't want to be late. Finally we were completely ready and we headed out to the car. Aidan was going to drive us there and back, during the three hours of the dance he'd probably go down to the pool hall with his friends. 

In the car I was so excited, and if Quistis was she didn't show it. I knew she probably was, but she was more composed than I was sometimes. She was mostly just worrying. 

"What if he doesn't like the dress?"

"Quistis, come on. If he doesn't like it, so what? He likes you!" 

"What if he doesn't?"

"He _does._" 

"How do you know?" 

"I just do, okay? Stop worrying about it. Everything is going to be fine." Seifer hadn't asked her to the dance, but I knew he'd been trying to. Ellone and Squall agreed on that. Ellone had confided in me privately that he was afraid Quistis still liked Squall and she'd tell him no. They would both be there, though, and if they didn't get together on their own, Ellone and I were there to push them in the right direction. 

After what seemed like an eternity we pulled up at the school. A lot of people were already here and the parking lot was almost as noisy as the gym was. Quistis and I didn't bother looking around, Ellone had said she'd make sure 'our' guys were waiting out front. Nervously I smoothed out my dress and waited for Quistis to catch up. We walked up to the doors together, and sure enough Irvine and Seifer were standing there talking. Every so often they'd look around, most likely for us. My guess was confirmed when Seifer looked over to where we were, turned back to Irvine and pointed to us. Both of them smiled and headed in our direction. 

"Hello, ladies. You're looking lovely tonight." Irvine said jokingly. I rolled my eyes and Quistis and I giggled. We walked in together, catching up with Ellone and Squall, who had just arrived, on the way. 

Squall immediately departed in search of Rinoa, leaving the five of us standing there. Fujin and Zell said hello and then I think they left to dance, but I wasn't positive. They could have just been wandering around wreaking havoc. 

Blink-182 was blaring out of the speakers, and while some people were dancing, we just stood there. It was like that for the next few songs, but finally a song I knew-and loved-came on. You could tell it would be a slow song just by the first few notes, and Seifer immediately tried to walk off, but I grabbed his arm, and Quistis's, and forced their hands together so that they were holding hands. They both turned red but didn't pull apart. 

"Go dance." I commanded. They did. 

After they were out of sight, Irvine grabbed my hand. I turned to him.

"Do you want to dance?" He asked, rather shyly.

"Of course." I said, smiling. We moved out onto the dance floor just as the words of the song began.

__

And even though the moment passed me by

I still can't turn away 

I saw the dreams you never thought you'd lose

Tossed along the way

Letters that you never meant to send

Lost or thrown away

And now we're grown-up orphans that never knew their names

Don't belong to no one that's a shame

You could hide beside me maybe for a while

And I won't tell no one your name

Scars are souvenirs you never lose 

The past is never far

Did you lose yourself somewhere out there

Did you get to be a star

Don't it make you sad to know that life

Is more than who we are

You grew up way too fast and now there's nothing to believe

And reruns all become our history

A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio

And I won't tell no one your name

I think about you all the time

But I don't need the same

It's lonely where you are come back down

And I won't tell 'em your name

The song ended with some slow musical notes but neither Irvine or I made any move to step away from each other. 

"Sefie, I don't care if your last name is Kinneas. You're who you are, not your father. I love you and I would no matter what your name was. But you do know that sooner or later someone's going to find about about this and it won't be pretty."

"I don't care, because I love you too." 

He looked at me carefully. "Did you just-"

"Yes." I stood on tiptoes and kissed him. This time, I didn't back away. 

That dance was perfect. How was I supposed to know that tomorrow everything would change? 

-End chapter five


	6. Name VI

Name   
  
  
  
The weekend was long and pretty horrible. I couldn't stop thinking about Irvine, but he didn't call.   
  
I waited all weekend, and he didn't call.   
  
Why didn't he? Was there something wrong with me? Did he not like me anymore?   
  
I didn't wonder if anyone had seen me. Of course no one had seen me. Taren hadn't gone to the dance, and I hadn't seen any of his friends there. There wasn't anything to worry about there.   
  
Probably, I should have worried, and considered some things. Considered that Taren was home today, and that the ringer to my phone wasn't working and that Irvine didn't have my cellphone number. If I only would have stopped worrying and actually thought for a minute, I could have figured things out before it was too late.   
  
*   
  
Monday I got ready for school with some apprehension. I wasn't sure what wouldhappen when I got there, and I was worried. You know, I never USED to worry.   
  
Guys are great, but they have the worst affect on girls sometimes.   
  
*   
  
I met Quistis in front of school, as usual. She looked at me a little oddly.Irvine had been standing next to her, but as soon as he saw me he walked off.   
  
Running up, I managed to catch his arm, waving at Quistis quickly.   
  
He looked hurt.   
  
"What's the matter?" I asked, worried.   
  
"You were out with another guy?" he asked in a small voice.   
  
"What? Irvine, I was home all weekend. I didn't go anywhere. I stayed in my room, waiting for you to call me."   
  
"Why didn't you call me?"   
  
"You said that you would call and I didn't want to bother you. Really, I was home. Just ask-" It hit me. "He wouldn't. . ." I breathed dangerously.   
  
Quistis had joined us now. "Who wouldn't what?"   
  
"Taren. He lied to Irvine. He knows." I said shortly.   
  
"That can't be good."   
  
"It's not. He'll tell my parents."   
  
"Selphie. . .I won't let anything happen, okay? It'll be fine." Irvine said.   
  
"No, it won't! You don't know Taren, and you don't know my parents!" I was really upset.   
  
Irvine pulled me into an embrace. "Really, everything will be alright," he whispered.   
  
I believed him. Really, I did.   
  
Then I felt the hand on my shoulder.   
  
"Selphie, what do you think you're doing?" Taren's rude voice cut through the schoolyard. Everyone turned to us.   
  
I had never stood up to my cousin before. He had always been in charge. I'd been scared to cross him when I was younger. I still was, but my fear would not get the better of me now when so much was at stake. Nothing had ever been worth facing Taren's full wrath before, or the fury of my parents.   
  
Irvine was worth it, and many times over.   
  
"Nothing that concerns you, Taren."   
  
"You're family. Everything you do concerns me, especially when it goes strictly against everything our family has always stood for. How can you touch. . .that?" He spoke like Irvine was something the cat dragged in.   
  
"Always? No, Taren. Not always. You're delusional." I was pissed. Irvine and Quistis could tell, and while Quistis took a step back, Irvine moved closer, protectively. I thanked him mentally for it. "Grandfather would have never stood for this. You and Father, and Mother too, you're all spoiled. Spoiled rotten. You see nothing but yourselves. All that matters to you is how much money you have. You're the same, all of you. Why can't you see that's not what matters in life?"   
  
I grabbed Irvine's hand and held it tightly. "I hate you, Taren. I hate you and Mother and Father. How can you be so heartless?"   
  
It didn't bother him in the least. "I've had enough of your childish prattle, Selphie. We're leaving, now."   
  
"Excuse me? We're leaving? I'm not coming with you."   
  
"Yes, you are." He said, grabbing my arm. A group of his followers moved behind me to stand around my friends. "It's for your own good, Selphie. You'll thank me someday."   
  
I stood stone-still, not moving. He yanked my arm, hard. "Come ON." He said in a hard voice. Several teachers were watching, but none made any move to interfere. I shuddered. As I was being pulled away, I turned to look at Irvine. His eyes were sad. Quistis looked helpless. I smiled sadly at them, mouthing the words 'I love you' to Irvine.   
  
*   
  
When I arrived home, I was locked into my room. Neither of my parents were there, and while Taren's actions infuriated me, there was nothing I could do. I paced my room angrily, wondering if I dared to call anyone. When school was finally out for the day, I went for my phone but dropped it when I heard a noise at the door. I tapped it with my foot, sending it sailing under the bed, and turned to face my parents defiantly.   
  
"Selphie, is it true what Taren has told us? How could you go against your family like that?"   
  
"How could he do what he did?"   
  
"Selphie, they're bad blood. Don't you ever think about anything? Remember the feud?" My father said.   
  
"No, I remember how youwere jealous of Mr. Kinneas because he was a good guy. You're just greedy."   
  
"Young lady, I will not be spoken to like that." He said at the same time my mother said, "You will not talk to your father like that."   
  
I just glared.   
  
"You are not to see that boy again."   
  
"You can't stop me from seeing my friends!"   
  
"Oh yes we can. If you don't stay away from him, you will go back to Trabia."   
  
That would be awful. I'd rather stay here, where I could at least see Irvine.   
  
"And I'd like it if you stayed away from that Trepe girl as well."   
  
"May I ask why?" I said sarcastically.   
  
"Don't be smart. She has bad breeding. You may continue to see her but try not to get too close."   
  
I was furious, but I concealed it until they left. As my mother walked out the door, she said, "You will go back to school tomorrow. Taren will be watching you."   
  
*   
  
During math class, Quistis and I passed about three pages of notes. We sat in the back and did nothing else the entire time. At lunch, we didn't go to the usual table, but instead, out to the hall, heading towards the girl's room. I sat on the edge of the sink and Quistis stood in front of me.   
  
"They make me so mad." I said. "If Taren sees me talking with Irvine at all, or even too near him, they're shipping me back to Trabia."   
  
"I know." She said sympathetically. "There's got to be a way around it. We'll just have to think of something, and until we do, you and Irvine can meet in secret."   
  
"Secret how? Taren's probably got people everywhere."   
  
"You make it sound like he's evil."   
  
"He is." I said angrily.   
  
"Selphie, calm down. . .It's okay. Well, it isn't right now, but it will be. Don't worry about it."   
  
"You're right."   
  
"I know I am. Now wait here a minute, I'll be right back." She grinned impishly and took off. I wondered what she was doing.   
  
We were in the third floor girl's room, it was out of the way and run-down, so no one ever used it. It was a good place to ditch classes, but it wasn't like anyone ditched lunch. The only other classes this hour were electives, and no one ditched those either, usually they were an easy A.   
  
After a few minutes, I heard noises outside the door. One voice I think I recognized as Quistis's, and the other voice was deeper.   
  
I tried to make out the words, and after a few minutes, I could.   
  
"It's a girl's bathroom!" Irvine said. "Why do you want me to go in there?"   
  
"Because Selphie's in there!"   
  
"What? I thought we couldn't see each other!"   
  
"Guys are so thick." Quistis said, and I giggled. "Don't you WANT to see her?"   
  
"Of course."   
  
"Then you have to be sneaky. No one's around. Go on, nothing will bite you."   
  
The door opened slowly, and Irvine poked his head in. I jumped down from the sink and flew at him, wrapping my arms around him tightly.   
  
Quistis smiled and left. "I'll tell the others." She said.   
  
"Quisty told me what happened. Don't worry about it, okay? We'll think of something." He said and kissed me.   
  
"I already have." I told him.


	7. Name VII

I had thought of something, but so had Irvine. While my plan was to run away, his plan was for the two of us to get married. I wasn't sure I'd heard him correctly.

"You want us to get _married_? Irvine, we're only seventeen."

"I know, but I love you. You love me, don't you?"

"Of course I do! But we're only _seventeen!_ We have our whole lives ahead of us, we can't just get married."

"Why not?" 

I sighed. "Well, for one, we have high school and then college. What's going to happen if we have kids?" 

"I hadn't thought of that."

"I figured."

"Well, what should we do then?"

"I don't know."

"That's why I think we should get married. No one will be able to separate us after."

"You have a point there."

"I want us to get married, Selphie. I love you and I want to be with you forever."

"Doesn't it seem like this is happening too fast? What I mean is, we only just met and here we are talking about getting married."

"No...when I met you it seemed like I'd known you all my life. It wasn't like just met."

"It wasn't." I agreed, remembering. It had really seemed like we'd known each other forever. 

As I thought about it now, it was still that way. Thinking about marrying him didn't seem like a crazy idea. Actually, it seemed like a good one. 

"All right."

"What?"

"I said all right. I'll marry you. It is a good idea. They wouldn't be able to separate us and-" I was cut off by a wild Irvine, one who was jumping up and down excitedly like a little kid with a new toy. As I looked on in amusement, Squall, Rinoa, Ellone, Seifer, Fujin, Zell and Quistis crowded into the bathroom, the guys going over to Irvine to say congratulations and the girls coming over and hugging me. Irvine came over and hugged me tightly, picking me up off the ground, and the other guys came over and we were all caught up in a big group hug.

"This _is _the girl's bathroom, right?" Seifer asked.

"Yes, genius." That was Quistis.

"Just checking." 

*

We didn't tell Irvine's parents. I wanted to at first but he said they'd probably say what I had said and it was doubtful that they would change their minds like I had.

"So, when are we going to get married?" Irvine asked, a silly smile on his face. That wasn't the first time he had said that, I think he just liked saying those words. I didn't blame him because I liked hearing them. It was scary-cool. I was excited, but I was also worried that something would happen to wreck it. 

"I don't know. Let's wait until after the play." I said, thoughtfully. "The cast and crew party is afterwards, and we can leave early."

"Who's coming with us? Everyone?"

"Do you actually think they'll let ten people crowd into a tiny chapel or wherever? Where are we getting married, anyway?"

"Oh, you'll never believe it. Raine became some kind of priest before to marry her two best friends. She said she'll marry us."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Booyaka! I can't think of anyone I'd like more. So that kind of resolves the 'who's coming' question."

"I think so."

"I can't wait!" I squeaked excitedly.

"Me either." Irvine said softly. He leaned over and kissed me softly. We'd both been sitting on the floor in his room, I had told Mother I was at Rinoa's house.

It was only a week or so away. Ellone had spoken to Raine and the actual wedding was organized, but I was still very nervous. I was afraid that something would happen, something bad. 

When I mentioned my misgivings to Irvine, he just shrugged it off, saying everything would be okay. I wasn't so sure, though. 

*

The play was a complete success! No one forgot their lines and the acting was flawless. Everyone congratulated Irvine and I on our chemistry, and said it was almost like we really were in love. 

All of us were excited. Squall kept walking around with a dorky smile on his face and every so often Rinoa or Ellone would squeal and jump up and down. It was very silly but we all had fun. Seifer kept sneaking up on Quistis and tickling her. She knew when he was there but she pretended she didn't. Rinoa and Squall were acting pretty silly too, chasing each other around the room with Fujin and Zell cheering them on. Irvine and I were so nervous, but we weren't showing it. We were the only relatively calm ones out of all of us. 

"So, how are we getting there?"

"Well, the groom, that's you, can't see the bride before the wedding. So we're going in two separate cars. Selphie, you're riding with Rinoa, Ellone, me and Fujin, and Irvine, you're riding with Squall, Zell and Seifer," Quistis said, taking charge of the situation as usual. 

"All right. When are we leaving?"

"Whenever. Right now, I guess," Squall answered, checking his watch. The guys headed out to Squall's car, and the five of us who were left had another group hug, and then _we _all went to find Rinoa's car, because Ellone had forgotten where she parked it. When we found it we headed towards Squall and Ellone's home. 

*

We waited for half an hour. Finally, Squall's car could be heard outside, but Irvine wasn't there. The five of us watched from a window as Squall, Zell and Seifer walked inside, talking excitedly. A few minutes later, Raine walked in.

"Irvine stopped by his house. He should be here in a few minutes. Hurry, finished getting ready." She said and left the room.

There was a problem. I hadn't been able to choose between Quistis, Rinoa, Ellone and Fujin for bridesmaids. I was closest to Quistis and Ellone, but where would that leave Rinoa and Fujin, with whom I was also good friends? 

I was ready to just say all four of them could be bridesmaids, but Fujin and Rinoa told Ellone and Quistis they could have the honor and that they wouldn't mind. I gratefully smiled at them and was then faced with the job of picking my maid of honor from the two bridesmaids.

After about ten minutes, I gave up. "Ellone, Quistis, do paper rock scissors or I just won't have a maid of honor." Quisty won and put on the wreath of rosebuds that matched mine, only in pink instead of yellow and Ellone got a bouquet, and I straightened my dress. 

My dress was made out of a white silky material, with thin straps holding it up and pale yellow embroidery picked out along the hem. The girls had fashioned a veil out of a white lace tablecloth that Raine had. She said they could cut it up and they had dived into it. A crown of fresh yellow rosebuds rested on my auburn hair, which hung straight down to my shoulders. 

Rinoa was wearing a long red dress that looked simply gorgeous on her. Ellone had on a light green dress that looked like the one Rinoa had worn to the dance and Fujin was wearing a blue skirt with a silvery tank top. Quistis was wearing the dress she had worn to the dance.

We looked around at each other. "Are we ready?" Ellone asked. 

"I think so." I said nervously, and my voice cracked. Everyone laughed and Raine came in. 

"Come downstairs now, he should be here any minute." 

An hour later, he still hadn't shown up. My stomach was turning over from nervousness, but I tried not to show it. Why wasn't he here? I knew he wouldn't stand me up...would he?

I pretended like he wasn't even supposed to be here yet and everyone else was early.

Finally I decided I couldn't wait anymore. "I'm going outside to see if I can see him." I left before anyone could say anything. 

*

A slight nighttime chill was setting in. I shivered in my summer dress. I'd left the veil draped over the back of a kitchen chair, with the flowers next to it. I stood, looking down that field. Raine's house was surrounded by a large field, and it was hard to see cars on the road at night. After a while I saw headlights, and ran to look if it was Irvine.

My shoes slipped on the wet grass and I tripped, hitting my head as I fell. I could feel something sharp against my arm, for a second, and then something wet spilled down my arm. 

My mind was dazed and only just before I lost consciousness did I realize that it was my blood.

*

I slept for a long time, tormented by nightmares of ghosts and monsters, horrifying creatures with too many legs and eyes. 

Then I could hear an unearthly sound...it was like singing. A liquid golden voice, the sound that wishes are made of, poured into my dreams, chasing the creatures away with a wall of fire. 

I thought I could see something...something winged. It was too big to be a bird, and it seemed to be sweeping up from the flames, rising from them. That sounded familiar in my mind but I couldn't place it. Whatever it was, it was the colour of fire, changing every second from red to orange to yellow and back again. 

The ethereal creature flew towards me, and my cold body warmed up. That's all I could ever remember about what happened between that time and the time I woke up. 

I did wake up. My friends hadn't thought I would, but I did. 

*

When I woke up I was in a bed that wasn't mine. From the plain white sheets and the noises around me I figured I was in a hospital. I was wearing a hospital gown, I hated those so much but it wasn't like they could have asked me. I could see my wedding dress, cleaned and hanging on the wall. 

Just as I turned over, my mother stormed in. "What is going on? Why were you over there? As soon as you get out you're heading straight back to Trabia."

I sighed. I didn't really feel like dealing with this right now but I don't think I had a choice. A doctor rushed in. 

"Mrs. Tilmitt, I'm sorry, but you need to leave. Your daughter has to rest."

"Just a minute." I called softly. My voice was scratchy, probably because I hadn't used it in a while. Just how long had I been in here anyway? It was daylight, so at least a day, but I felt it was much more. Probably it was. 

The doctor eyed me suspiciously. "I'll be back in five minutes," he said finally, and left. 

"Just _what _did you think you were doing?" She demanded once the door shut. "They said you were getting _married_? I told you to stay away from that boy and you marry him? Whyever would you do such a thing?"

"You just answered your own question. Because you wouldn't let me see him. I love him, and I can't just stop seeing him."

"You're seventeen. You don't know what love is and you won't know until you're thirty-nine and wish you'd never heard of love," she said, exasperated. 

"Mother, I'm not going back to Trabia. I'm sorry. I won't do it. I hate it there, and I won't go."

She laughed, disbelieving. "Well, I'd like to know where you think you're staying. It won't be with us. You've completely disgraced our family, and you deliberately disobeyed me." 

"She'll stay with me." Irvine said. I hadn't noticed him walk in behind my mother, and his face was very angry. "You're her mother, and you don't even care about her. She almost died, and you don't even ask her how she's feeling."

Mother had the good grace to at least look a little contrite. She managed to sweep out of the room with some dignity, saying as she left, "If you don't get your things this week, I'll throw them away." 

Ellone and Quistis poked their heads in the room. "We'll go now." They waved at me and disappeared. 

Irvine crossed to my bed in two strides, and sat down. "Are you all right?" He asked, worried.

"What happened?"

"There was an accident, and I was caught in it. They wouldn't let anyone pass. The officer just laughed when I told him I was getting married. I tried to call, but the batteries in my phone were dead. I'm so sorry that I was late, and that you got hurt."

"It wasn't your fault. I should have taken a light, or something, so I could see where I was going. What did I cut myself on?"

"There was a piece of metal that blew off someone's house in that last big windstorm we had. It was just lying there and when you tripped, you hit your head, and then your arm fell on the metal. You bled a lot. Everyone thought you were going to die." He said, his eyes a bit wet. 

"Something...happened," I said, and then proceeded to describe my dream to him, the one with the fiery creature in it. His face turned serious, but interested. 

"That was Phoenix! You dreamed about him!" He said excitedly. Then I remembered why it had seemed familiar. He was the Guardian Force of flame, and of rebirth, giving life to those who had died. 

"He saved my life. I wonder why."

"Because you have something else to do. You aren't ready to die yet."

"Yes, I know there's something I have to do. I have to marry you," I said. 

I leaned over and kissed him.

*

Two weeks later, I was out of the hospital and Irvine and I were married in Raine's flower garden, this time it was in the afternoon, like a wedding should be. The weather was perfect, except for at the end, just as Raine said, "You may now kiss the bride."

Irvine leaned over, raised up the veil, and was kissing me when there was a crack of thunder and then rain poured down from where there had been no clouds before. 

We still can't agree on whether it was magic or a sign.

__

~The End~ 

Author's Note: This fic is finally finished. It took me forever, and I know I wasn't that great about updating (sorry everyone) but now it's done. I hope you liked the ending, I did. I loved writing this, I said what I wanted to say and the ending, well, I couldn't have hoped for better. Thanks to all of my friends who gave good advice and stuck by me and helped me out. You guys are the best.

The reason I finished it today and not this weekend was actually as a birthday present to someone. I hope you like it, Jeremy. Happy sixteenth birthday. ^_~ 


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